Seattle Arrest Records
Arrest records in Seattle are managed by the Seattle Police Department, which processes over 10,000 public records requests each year under RCW 42.56. SPD operates an online portal for submitting, tracking, and downloading public disclosure requests, and maintains a large volume of arrest-related documents including incident reports, General Offense reports, and body-worn camera footage.
Seattle Overview
Seattle Police Department Records Requests
The Seattle Police Department's Records Section is at 610 5th Avenue, PO Box 34986, Seattle WA 98124-4986. The Public Disclosure Desk is reachable at 206-684-5481. SPD handles between 2,500 and 3,000 open public disclosure requests at any given time. That volume gives some sense of why response times vary. The department processes requests in the order received.
The SPD public disclosure portal lets you submit a new request, communicate with records staff, check the status of an open request, and download records once they are released. You do not need to appear in person to submit most requests. Online is the most efficient method. Once you create an account, all your requests are tracked in one place. The portal is available at all hours, so you can submit outside of normal business hours.
After SPD releases records, they are available for download for a limited window. Download what you need before the link expires. If you miss the window, contact the Records Section to request access again. For questions about a specific request, call 206-684-5481 during business hours.
The SPD Records Request Center is the main portal for submitting public disclosure requests for Seattle Police records, including arrest reports and incident documentation.
SPD processes thousands of open requests at once. A clear, specific request with dates, case numbers, or incident details helps the department locate the right records faster and reduces back-and-forth.
Viewing Seattle Police Reports Online
SPD makes General Offense (GO) Reports available online through a public report viewer. GO reports are in PDF format and appear within about 8 hours after an event is closed in the system. For major crimes, additional redacted narrative information may be accessible separately. You can search by GO number, offense type, or date range. A free account using your email address is required to access the viewer.
The GO report viewer is a fast first step if you know roughly when an incident happened and want to see the basic report without going through a full public records request. Not all reports appear there. Ongoing investigations, juvenile matters, and some sensitive cases may be held back. For those, a formal records request to SPD is the right move.
SPD also publishes data through Data.Seattle.Gov. The site includes 911 response records and crime data going back to 2008, plus historical data from 1996 to 2007. This aggregate data does not identify individuals but helps you understand trends and patterns in Seattle police activity. The data sets are downloadable directly from the portal.
SPD Blotter covers significant incidents and major department news. Significant Incident Reports detail serious events including critical incidents involving officers. These documents are available through the SPD Public Information Online page. The SPD Manual, which governs department operations, is also posted there for public reference.
SPD Fee Schedule for Records
Inspecting records in person at SPD is free. Fees apply when records are provided in a physical or digital format. Digital downloads cost $0.09 per gigabyte. Small digital files under 1 GB are $0.02. A CD is $1.00. Paper copies run $0.15 per page, and scanning paper to digital is $0.10 per page. These fees are set under the Seattle Public Disclosure Fee Schedule and may change over time.
Body-worn camera footage has a separate fee structure. Non-targeted redaction carries a flat fee deposit of $1.25. Targeted redaction, which involves manually reviewing and blurring specific content, costs a $5.00 deposit. The total cost depends on footage length and how much redaction is required. SPD releases records 1 to 2 business days after payment is confirmed.
BWC footage is subject to exemptions under RCW 42.56.240(14)(e)(i). Involved parties and their attorneys have specific access rights to footage under that statute. The SPD Legal Unit handles those requests. That unit currently carries a backlog of over 2,000 open matters, so BWC requests often take much longer than standard records requests. Plan for extended wait times if your request involves footage.
The full fee schedule is posted at SPD's fee schedule page. Check there before submitting a large request so you have a sense of the cost. The Public Disclosure Desk at 206-684-5481 can also give estimates for specific request types.
City-Wide Public Records and Court Resources
For city records that are not police records, the City of Seattle has a separate Public Records Request Center. That portal handles disclosure requests from all city departments, including Seattle Municipal Court and other agencies. It is a different system from the SPD portal, so submit to the right place based on the type of record you need.
The Seattle City Public Records Request Center handles public disclosure for all Seattle city departments that are not the police department.
Use the city portal for Seattle Municipal Court records, city agency documents, and non-police records. For SPD arrest records and incident reports, use the SPD portal at the Records Request Center instead.
Seattle Municipal Court handles misdemeanor cases filed in the city. When a Seattle arrest leads to misdemeanor charges, the case record sits at Municipal Court. Felony charges go to King County Superior Court. The Washington Courts case search at dw.courts.wa.gov covers both and lets you search by name and county to find charges and outcomes from any Washington arrest.
VINELink at vinelink.com tracks custody status for people held in King County facilities. WATCH at watch.wsp.wa.gov covers statewide criminal history for $11. Both are useful when you need a fuller picture of an arrest beyond what SPD records alone show.
Jail booking records from King County facilities are public under RCW 70.48.100. Under RCW 10.97.050, conviction records are generally public while arrest records without a conviction carry more limited access. SPD staff can clarify what is releasable for a specific request when you contact the Records Section.
King County Arrest Records
Seattle is in King County. For county-level jail records and arrest records resources, including the King County Sheriff and Regional Justice Center, visit the county page.
Nearby Cities
These nearby cities have arrest records pages with local police and county resources.